I have had the immense pleasure of connecting with darling Danielle a few months ago when she first started indulging with Okoko treats. She fell in love and decided to share her OKOKO brand review with her impressions and a fun tutorial on each product. Watch the full video here. Danielle also kindly accepted to have an interview with me. Meet Danielle Crueltyfree vegan beauty and make sure to follow her:
On Youtube:
/CFVeganBeauty
On Instagram: /@crueltyfreeveganbeauty
1) What's your story (share your beauty story with us, your struggles and why you do what you do ?)
I have struggled with my skin for as long as I can remember. I think I was 12 when I first started getting acne! I spent years embarrassed by my skin and how I looked and it actually isolated me. When I was 15 I went on hormonal birth control as well as Accutane, twice! It eventually cleared up my acne until I came off birth control, when it came back again with a vengeance. I went vegan in 2010 and that's really where my interest in not only what I was putting into my body, but what I was also putting on my body began. It started with reading labels for animal ingredients, and turned into reading labels for toxic ingredients. I had no idea the number of toxic chemicals I was putting on my body when I was younger, and not only do I think that contributed to my skin problems, but also could be a contributing factor to my fertility issues. It wasn't until I found the green beauty community that I even realized the half of it. I began blogging and making Youtube videos as a way to share my knowledge of greener products that actually work (and work better than what doctors had been prescribing to me all those years) with people who were just like me and didn't know where to start. I do what I do now because I want to turn as many people on to greener products as I can. I am slowly getting family to come around, and I want to be able to provide my son with the safest products I can.
2) What made you switch to natural? What message do you want to tell the world?
I switched to natural products around the end of 2013 when my acne was at its worst. I had just come off of hormonal birth control for the first time since I was 15 and my skin began freaking out. I was at such a low point, and after years of trying prescription creams and medications, something clicked one day and I thought to myself "there has to be a better way to do this." I had already been vegan for 3 years, so while dairy had already been eliminated from my diet (which can be a huge acne trigger), I figured it had to be the products I was using. Did the doctors really have my best interests in mind with the stuff they were prescribing me? That started me on a quest to find the most natural way to heal my acne. I researched ingredients and companies and products. I began testing so many products, and over time I began to see a real difference in my skin. It took a lot of time and perseverance, but I am finally at a place where my skin looks as good as it did on birth control. I want to tell people that its ok to search outside of western medicine and look for more natural ways to heal your acne. The green beauty community is riddled with stories just like mine where people were looking to heal their acne more naturally. Don't give up if you don't see a difference right away! Everyone's skin is different and what may work for me may not work as well for you. Just keep searching and the perfect combination of products is out there!
3) What is the most memorable Christmas memories that you ever had?
My most memorable Christmas memories were all the years I made Christmas cookies with my family. They were recipes passed down from my grandmother, though we aren't sure where she got them, than we made every single year. Then, when I went vegan, we adapted all of the recipes to be vegan! We don't make them so much now that everyone is older and has started their own families, but I am so excited to get to start the same tradition with my son when he is old enough. I have the fondest memories of those times we all hung out in the kitchen and baked for days.
